From Dana Pettigrew

My earliest childhood memories include you D’Arcy. Definitely the cousin I was closest with growing up. So many wonderful memories going back all the way to the late 80s early 90s. We had so much fun together as kids. I vaguely remember the old white farmhouse and spending time there, particularly playing in the porch.

I remember playing a game called Mary and Joseph (wtf kind of game was that…like the strong catholic families we were) You always wanted to be Mary! I can also remember catching bullfrogs in the pond. Which completely grosses me out today! And also playing gladiators in the barn, climbing up the huge bales of hay.

I also remember when we painted your room, a black ceiling and dark red walls. Looking back I can’t believe Aunt Sandy let you do that! Of course most of my memories and the best ones involve the cottage! So many amazing summers spent in Battersea with you. It was the best part of every summer of my youth! I remember, of course building Fort Henry in the bush.

I remember endless hours swimming in the lake and all the games we would make up. Mermaids, bouncy bean, holding rocks and sinking ourselves knee deep in the soft, muddy lake bottom and the infamous “snap snap clap clap wiggle wiggle TOP TEN” before diving off the dock! That’s a song and story that I share with my own children now and still reenact to this day! I remember spending our warm summer days planning, preparing, rehearsing different songs and comedy shows, that we were going to perform for our parents on the stage at the cottage. We would literally spend all day planning and selling tickets for the grand performance on stage at the end of the day. I can still hear Aunt Sandy telling us to keep practicing…knowing full well it would occupy our entire day! I remember painting our entire bodies with coloured zinc sunscreen…from head to toe… like we were Indian war chiefs, going into battle (I mean today we would say “indigenous” but in the 80’s it was Indian) There are so many things that we used to do as kids in Battersea that I would probably not let my own children do today and our parents never thought twice about. For example, getting in the little boat ( the retarded four…again would never be given that name today!) to battersea to Norm Freemans for some bait, and of course the Battersea general store for some candy, before boating back to the cottage.

I remember hanging out in the gazebo, going to the creek for dinner, swimming for hours in the lake, water skiing, going on the Bobski, of course singing “Nana Nana Nana Nana hey hey hey goodbye” before bailing off the Bobski again. Another story that I frequently share with my own kids. We thought we were so funny and I’m sure your parents wanted to strangle us every time…having to do a big loop pick us all back up in the middle of the lake and it was never easy getting back on that damn thing. As we got older, (by older I mean of course probably like 11) our parents would take us into Kingston to hang out in the city.

I remember spending time at your mom‘s store, walking across the street to S&R department store to “shop“. We would spend hours wandering through the store like we were adults. I’m sure the retail workers were real impressed with us as well. Pretty sure this is where the classic story of us over hearing a black lady’s conversation in the change room…”girlll, I think I drop my pocketbook. Girllll you besta hope Jamal has it mmmmhmmmm” I still quote this to this very day!

I remember sharing with my friends back in Petrolia how cool it was that we would wander around downtown Kingston, hop on the ferry and go to Wolf Island, and then turn around and come right back, because there wasn’t anything to actually do on wolf island for us, but for some reason we thought it was cool to buy a ticket and take the ferry across the the lake. I remember you showing us the city on the tourist trolly and going to all your favourite places. You thought you were pretty cool, because you got to show us the city.

I remember we used to go and sit in the Chinese laundromat tea place and drink tea like we were so sophisticated, drinking tea. We always had so much fun in Kingston…literally the best times of my life were spent with you over the summer holidays.

I will never forget these times, and I will tell these stories to my own kids and carry on the traditions forever. I vow to always swim to Long Island every visit I make to the cottage. And every time I do, I will think of you and the great memories of us growing up together and our amazing friendship.

I am so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. You are an amazing son, brother, husband, cousin, friend, and nurse. You are kind, caring, smart, funny and I love you more than words can say.

Xoxoxo

Dana